When do police continue a high-speed chase?

It was the sort of high-speed police pursuit that has become increasingly rare, because it was so fast and lasted so long.

On Sept. 24, 2013, Columbus police chased murder suspect Tyrecquiss Wells from north to south Columbus, reaching speeds near 130 mph as Wells took the Manchester Expressway from the J.R. Allen Parkway to Interstate 185, and from there headed south to Buena Vista Road and from that exit went to Steam Mill Road, where he nearly hit a school bus head-on.

Eventually police lost track of Wells, who ditched his car behind a church and ran into a nearby neighborhood, where police finally tracked him down. Wells since has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole.

The chase he initiated is rare because officers now are held accountable for continuing a pursuit that recklessly endangers the public. Police regularly call such chases off when the risks outweigh the value of an arrest.

For routine traffic violations, police don’t pursue fleeing suspects, said Maj. J.D. Hawk, who heads the patrol division. Often such chases are unnecessary anyway, because the officer trying to make the stop already has the driver’s tag number and can track him down later. Also, the violation simply doesn’t warrant the risk.

“To get into a full-blown pursuit over something like that, it’s not worth it,” Hawk said.

But when police have identified a suspect wanted on a felony, they will pursue, depending on other circumstances, he said: “If we want somebody, say, for murder, for armed robbery, or they just committed a burglary, things like that fall within the permissible area for a pursuit.”

That doesn’t mean officers will continue the chase, because other circumstances can pose an unacceptable risk to public safety. Here are some of the factors Hawk said police consider:

▪ Time of day. Though police can see better during daytime pursuits, more motorists are on the roads, raising the danger of a collision or pedestrian accident.

▪ Road conditions. Rain, snow or freezing weather poses the risk of tires losing traction and vehicles sliding out of control.

▪ Driver competence. An impaired driver or a teenager is more likely to wreck out, endangering others.

▪ Location. Police are more likely to maintain a high-speed chase on a road that’s four lanes or wider, and on a limited access expressway such as an interstate.

Asked how police decide to call off a chase, Hawk said, “That’s a regular thing, and it goes down to the officer himself.” But supervisors monitoring the speed and route via police radio may order subordinates to discontinue a pursuit, and the officer’s actions are evaluated afterward, as each must fill out a pursuit form recounting the chase, for superiors to review. Those who violate department policy may be disciplined, Hawk said.

Should an officer in hot pursuit of a suspect cross jurisdictional lines, such as crossing the river into Alabama or leaving the county here in Georgia, dispatchers will alert the other agencies that the chase is headed their way, Hawk said.

An important tip for other motorists to remember is this: When they hear an emergency vehicle coming, they by law are supposed to pull off to the right side of the road – not left into a median or simply into another lane, Hawk said.

Such inconsistencies are a recurring issue, as are drivers who don’t move over when an officer has another motorist stopped on the roadside, the major said. The law says cars approaching a traffic stop are to shift to the left lane or at least slow to a safe speed as they pass.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "When do police continue a high-speed chase?."